NEXT STEP is PNB’s annual choreographic workshop where Company dancers have the opportunity to create original works for PNB School Professional Division students. NEXT STEP provides opportunity, infrastructure, and support to grow tomorrow’s choreographic talent while providing a performance opportunity to our most advanced students.
No results found.
For the end of time
Music
Olivier Messiaen
Choreography
Luther DeMyer
Olivier Messiaen wrote the Quartet for the End of Time during World War II while he was captured by the Germans in a prisoner of war camp. The first performance of this work was at the prison camp, performed by Messiaen himself and three other prisoners. The story of how this music was written has served as inspiration for this ballet. The art of German artist Käthe Kollwitz served as a secondary inspiration.
Luther DeMyer’s 2026 NEXT STEP piece is generously sponsored by Lynne Graybeal & Scott Harron.
Hues of You
Music
Burial and oh, the joy.
Choreography
Ashton Edwards
Ashton Edwards’ 2026 NEXT STEP piece is generously sponsored by Terrel & Rob Lefferts, Lyle & Andrea Snyder, and Amy Haugerud & Noel Miller.
PUSH
Music
Audio Composition by Zsilas
Choreography
Zsilas Michael Hughes
PUSH, Hughes’s second original composition and original choreography set on the PDs, celebrates the triumphant victory after a tumultuous battle. It’s a piece centered around reaping the manifestations that were formed from seeds to lifelong accomplishments. The work of going into the dark can be recognized as an enlightening experience. PUSH is the accepted feat and the reward of known strength that surpasses your understanding. The dancers dance in representation of the grit; almost barefoot and hungry. It is as if they were to have never spoken a word, with all-encompassing access to the original encyclopedia. A contemporary lyrical piece that transcends the space of a studio and provides a real-world experience.
“Everything ain’t as pretty as it seems, and that in itself is beautiful. –Zsilas Michael Hughes
With an original soundscape written, recorded, and produced by Zsilas Michael Hughes, created for the PNB Next Step performances.
Zsilas Michael Hughes’ 2026 NEXT STEP piece is generously sponsored by Susan Young Buske.
To Echo
Music
Written and performed by Michael Wall
Choreography
Dylan Wald & Elle Macy
A study in pairs and pace. Dedicated to Nancy and Eva.
Dylan Wald & Elle Macy’s 2026 NEXT STEP piece is generously sponsored by Connie and Tom Walsh.
from colors of sun and steel
Music
Written and performed by Matthias Loibner
Choreography
Leah Terada
Three is a foundational number in storytelling, the smallest unit needed to create a pattern and satisfy the brain’s desire for structure, rhythm, and closure. This piece follows three dancers across overlapping “timelines,” curious how patterns of connection are formed, held, and forgotten. From Terada’s doodled sketches of an anticipated musical topography, alongside illustrations of relationships between dancers and their separate trajectories, Austrian composer and hurdy gurdy virtuoso Matthias Loibner builds a score that flies through landscapes of melodies and clamor and celebrates junctures of shared presence. As timelines overlap and separate, from colors of sun and steel considers how relationships shift and how we, as an audience, can’t help but search for connection, understanding, and balance within them.
Leah Terada’s 2026 NEXT STEP piece is generously sponsored by Stephen & Marie Heil.
Vignettes
Music
Chris Cohen
Choreography
Lily Wills
Four short stories on what it’s like to be alive.
Lily Wills’ 2026 NEXT STEP piece is generously sponsored by the Lucinda Hughey Endowment and Dr. Joe G. Norman, Jr.
It's our biggest sale of the year! Tickets to George Balanchine's The Nutcracker® are up to 40% off from now until September 11. Buy now to get the best tickets at the best price!